Seven charged in alleged race attack

SIX men and a teenage boy accused of a racially-motivated attack on a Turkish man will have their cases heard at the crown court.

Laurence Cawley

SIX men and a teenage boy accused of a racially-motivated attack on a Turkish man will have their cases heard at the crown court.

The alleged incident is said to have happened as the victim, a man in his 30s, was sitting on a bench in East Street, Sudbury, at 3.45am on May 10, magistrates in Bury St Edmunds heard yesterday .

Carl Adams, 18, of Second Avenue in Sudbury, Scott Lawrence, 20, of Church Square in Bures, Curtis Martin, 18, of Woodhall Road in Sudbury, Liam Russell, 19, of Woodhall Close in Sudbury, Steven Fuller, 18, of Sycamore Road in Great Cornard and Jonathan Smith, 18, of Highbury Way in Great Cornard are all accused of racially aggravated assault and causing actual bodily harm.

A seventh person, a 17-year-old from Sudbury, is also accused of the same offence but cannot be named for legal reasons.

When they appeared in the dock before magistrates, in front of a packed public gallery, all seven declined to enter a plea to the charges facing them at the current stage.

Magistrates declined jurisdiction on the matter and are transferring the case to be heard at Ipswich Crown Court later in the year. The 17-year-old's case will also be heard at the crown court rather than separately in the youth court after a direction was made by the magistrates.

The case has been adjourned for eight weeks to allow the Crown Prosecution Service time to get the necessary paperwork sorted for the crown court hearing.

All seven were released on unconditional bail until September 22, when the seven will be back before magistrates in Bury to have their cases formally transferred to the crown court.